Elijah's Story

Pound, WI

Elijah extends his small, fisted hand toward Ronald McDonald, his eyes cast downward at the clown’s yellow glove. In the photograph capturing the exchange, Elijah’s father, Giles, holds the nineteen month old in his arms.

         “We just started doing that fist bump,” Giles explains, grinning, “and to see him doing that with Ronald McDonald was amazing.”

        Although a scene like this might be more easily attributed to a child’s birthday party, for Elijah, the fist bump occurred at the Ronald McDonald House which has served as a home away from home while Elijah - who was born without a diaphragm - undergoes treatment at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.

                Area volunteers cook dinner nightly for guest families. For Giles, who had no preconceived expectations for life at the House, the notion of a hot meal served on something other than a plastic hospital tray was overwhelming. “I had to fight back tears,” he says.

        To visit the Ronald McDonald House is to realize that, beyond the foundation of the building itself, there also lies the foundation of an engaged and committed community dedicated to easing the burdens of the guests. For families like the Litzners, the House is more than just a physical space.

              “We’ve been thinking of ways to give back,” Giles says. “We have two lives,” he continues, referring to splitting their time between the Milwaukee area and their hometown. “Honestly, we’ve been calling the Ronald McDonald House our home.”